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Rescheduling
science fair
is difficult

Question: The state science fair was held at the Blaisdell Center April 4-6 -- Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. It's always held during the school week. Why can't they hold it later in the week, so that the public viewing day would fall on a Friday or Saturday? The only time available to the public for viewing is on Wednesday until 7:30 p.m. Not every school will take students to see the projects. A lot of us parents would like to expose their children to the fair, but the middle of a school week makes it almost impossible.

Answer: Officials of the Hawaii State Science and Engineering Fair would also like to have the annual fair coincide with a weekend day, but it just hasn't been possible.

"We have looked at it (changing the schedule)," said Shiyana Thenabadu, director of the fair. "It would really be nice to have it open to the public on a weekend day, but it would be difficult and it would make a lot of people unhappy."

Thenabadu explained that the No. 1 problem is that it's very difficult to get a weekend booking at the Blaisdell, where events are already booked years in advance. On top of that, it would be more expensive to rent the facility on a weekend, which is a big consideration for organizers.

"If you're a nonprofit, you have to keep your costs down," Thenabadu said. The fair is put on by the Hawaii Academy of Science, a private, nonprofit organization founded in 1925.

Another reason is that if the project viewing day is moved to a Saturday, Thenabadu said, "We can't do the school visitation because the schools are not in session."

To accommodate school visits, the fair would then have to be opened to viewing for two days, which would present logistical problems, she said.

Finally, Thenabadu explained that moving the event to a weekend would necessitate judging and other activities also taking place on a weekend.

Teachers involved would have to take their own time off. They voted to stick to the current schedule, which calls for fair participants to set up their projects on Monday, with judging held on Tuesday and public viewing on Wednesday.

Q: What ever happened in the case of someone finding a finger in a bowl of chili? Where did the finger originate?

A: There are questions about the legitimacy of the claim by a Las Vegas woman that she found a 1.5-inch finger in a bowl of chili at a Wendy's restaurant in San Jose, Calif., on March 22.

Authorities have been stumped so far as to where the finger originated. Wendy's has offered a $50,000 reward to solve the mystery.

Meanwhile, Anna Ayala, who initially filed a claim against the Wendy's franchise owner, said last week she will not file a lawsuit. It's been reported that Ayala has a history of filing lawsuits or claims. Her attorney said she is dropping her claim because police investigations and intense public scrutiny have taken an emotional toll.

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